The Windows App Store is Now Open for App Submissions

Today’s an especially great day to be a developer. We’re very excited to announce the last significant milestone in the rollout of the Windows Store before the general availability of Windows 8 on October 26. The Store is now open for app submissions from all developers – individuals and companies – in our supported markets, and we’ve added 82 more app submission markets! Now, developers from 120 markets can publish Windows Store apps.

The gates have been lifted as developers from across the globe can now submit their apps to be available on Day 1 when Windows 8 releases to the general public. Speaking of Day 1, the Windows Store will support 230 consumer markets, 120 developer markets, with 103 languages supported!

More markets will be coming online over time. You can review the complete list of supported developer markets over on the Windows Dev Center. To submit apps for review and placement in the Windows Store, you must have a Windows Store developer account.

This free, one-year Windows Store developer account is also extended to participants in DreamSpark and BizSpark.

Be sure to read more on how to open a developer account. As well as be conscious on whether you want to set up your developer account as a “business account”, which will require business license confirmation, or an “individual account”. I know making the wrong choice has caused some pain for developers in the Windows Phone Marketplace, so be wary when setting up yours.

If you don’t have an eligible MSDN subscription or fall with-in the DreamSpark or BizSpark programs, the cost to sign up for the Store is $49. A registered developer account provides you the opportunity to submit apps to the Windows Store, discovery of your app within the Store by customers, distribution and reporting. Your account fee also includes two free assisted technical support incidents per year.

Learn to develop for Windows 8

First and foremost, if you haven’t already done so, download the free dev tools and SDK. If you don’t already have a copy of Windows 8 through the programs mentioned above, you can download a 90-day evaluation of Windows 8 to get you going.

My team has been furiously working to provide developers with a number of programs and events to get them ramped up on building Windows Store apps. These include:

Generation App – Sign-up for this structured online app development program that includes one-on-one design and technical consultations.